Are you a fiber lover? Have you considered the animals from which you acquire your materials? In this episode, recorded at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby, Oregon, we interview farmers of three different animals raised for their fiber, and ask them what they enjoy about doing just that. Jack Lyda, of Honey Lane Farms (above) tells us about his love of raising Shetland sheep.

Traveling is a fantastic time to catch up on crafting time. This last spring I visited New Jersey to watch my sister participate in the Special Olympics USA Games. The long plane ride, countless bus trips, and hours of train adventures all paid off with a glorious pile of completed projects.

You may have noticed, in addition to our 52 Weeks of Dishcloths series, we’ve been releasing a lot of free patterns from outside designers lately!

So many cute patterns too – we themed the recent ones around good gifts for children and babies. We’re constantly searching for great free kids patterns, in both knit and crochet, so we’re so excited to have so many lovely patterns on the site now.

Have you seen our new (utterly adorable!) Sheep Greeting Cards yet? They’re here just in time for sending thoughtful “thank you’s” or seasons greetings to everyone on your list! This was by far my most favorite photo shoot research and go on and I thought I’d take a moment to show you a few of the cute photos that we didn’t use for the cards and tell you a little bit about the Cedar Haven Farm.

Many of you have knit with a variety of animal fibers: wool, alpaca, angora. Have you ever worked outside of the “animal box” and knit/crocheted/spun with the fiber of a more exotic animal? If so, we’d love to hear about it. Write to us at podcast@knitpicks.com. If you’re included in our next podcast, you’ll receive a “charm pack” of our favorite yarns. Write to us now! We’d love to hear from you.

Creating the dishcloth patterns over the last 10 months for the 52 Weeks of Dishcloths has been fun and a challenge for me. I decided experiment with new stitches whether it be knit or crochet. I also have always loved texture, especially 3D texture. The Dancing Shells Dishcloth, made with Dishie, was the perfect choice for a new look in crochet!

October has arrived and that can only mean one thing – a new downloadable calendar wallpaper for you! This month, we are showing off Andean Treasure, a super soft and incredibly warm 100% baby alpaca yarn (perfect for staying warm as the temperature starts to drop).